Strategies to attract More Shoppers to your online store

A guide to increasing online sales through inbound marketing. Kanika Verma SEO Expert GlobeX

There are Various Strategies that we need to implement now a days to show our presence on the internet and to attract more shoppers to your online store.

1. Maximize Search Engine VisibilityThese days, search engines are the first place most people look when searching for a particular product online. Consequently, it’s also the first place to find new customers online. If marketing is about being in the right place at the right time - search engines provide the ability to do just that!Whether you are doing Organic SEO or Adwords your site is to appear on top page. It helps you improve on both aspects of SEM.You can analyse your search engine visibility by•Sales - An obvious one, but how many sales is search marketing generating?•Number of visits - How many total visits and how many unique (new) visitors?

•Conversions - How many unique visitors typically convert to paying customer?•Best sources of traffic - Where are your new visitors coming from?•Cost per click (CPC) - the cost of a click on a paid search ad.•Quality score (QS) - how high this is will affect your CPC (the higher the better). You can Optimize your Site for Search Engine Visibiity

It used to be SEO was all about what happened on the backend of your website. The meta descriptions and title tags and links were all the rage. But then Google discovered the search experts were gaming the system and changed their algorithm.

Now Google wants to see really good content that has keywords inserted in the way a human being would read. What they found before was what is called keyword stuffing. A search expert would take the word or phrase they wanted to rank for and put it in a piece of content as many times as they could. This would alert the search engines they were relevant for that topic and the page would be returned at the top of the search results.Off Page Optimization: Off page SEO refers to techniques that can be used to improve the position of a web site in the search engine results page (SERPs). Many people associate off-page SEO with link building but it is not only that. In general, off Page SEO has to do with promotion methods – beyond website design –for the purpose of ranking a website higher in the search results.One of the best ways to achieve this is through the creation of good content that other websites and blogs will want to link to. This is known a link building.

It takes time and effort, but it’s one of the most powerful and positive ways to generate good quality inbound links. There are a number of free tools available that will help you track your inbound links including Yahoo’s site explorer and LinkDiagnosis.2. Create Remarkable Content : A great way of attracting increasing numbers of website visitors and potential new customers is to lure them in with remarkable content that supplements your products. This is where your imagination can really run riot, but it means thinking less like a retailer and more like a publisher.

3. Leverage Social Media : Once you have started creating your ‘remarkable’ content, you need to promote it and build a way of connecting with your customers within the areas that they ‘hang out’ online. There’s no better way of doing this than by building an online following and Leveraging the rise of social networking.Social Media Sites Likes: Facebook, twitter, youtube, stumble upon, Quora, LinkedIn, Digg, Google+, Tumblr, Delicious, pinterest etc.

4. Extend Reach With Advertising : For those with the budget, online and offline advertising is still an option for driving brand familiarity and attracting online shoppers. There are various online and offline options to consider.Google Display Network (GDN)To tie in with your search marketing efforts, it’s worth looking at Google’s Display Network. The Google Display Network comprises millions of websites from around the world. Rather than managing individual ad relationships with site owners, GDN allows you to place, manage, target, analyse and optimise the performance of ads displayed across member sites via your Google Adwords account. You can even create enticing display ads through its display ad builder.

Online AdvertisingTraditional online advertising is another way to extend your presence online. Whilst it isn’t always considered the most cost effective route, it is an option worth considering if you have the budget.

On-site advertising can be managed directly with media site owners, or via a media buying agency, who will often have the buying power to negotiate better deals on your behalf. However, they will also take a cut of the spend (usually around 15%) as commission.

Print AdvertisingThe use of print advertising has declined steadily since the rise of the Internet. However, it is still an option and can sometimes be negotiated as a value added component of an online media contract, or as part of a PR effort.To get the most out of it, there are some simple ways to maximize your return from them. Here are some of our favorite:● Target your media - Identify the titles that your customers are reading.● Keep it simple - Readers need to ‘get it’ in a second.● Keep it positive - People respond better to positive messages.● Strong call to action - Make sure you give the reader a next step.● Clear next step - Short URLs, or use QR codes.

The Last But Not the Least Option to Increase Website traffic is to Use Discount and Coupon Codes for shopping.

Types of coupons to try

Not all coupons will work for all types of online stores. I recommend trying out a few different kinds to see what moves the needle for you, then refine the offers as you go. Of course, it’s important to carefully look at your profit margins in order to come up with an offer that you can afford to make. After all, the point of a coupon is to ultimately increase your sales. Price appropriately for your margins and then test away!

Free shipping

This is one of the most popular options out there with merchants and customers alike. As shipping is one of the biggest pain points for online consumers (remember: 44% of carts are abandoned because of shipping costs), it makes sense to address it in the form of a handy coupon. If you’re worried you may end up paying too much shipping yourself, or if you tend to sell larger items and picking up the shipping is cost prohibitive, you can still offer free shipping by limiting it to certain order amounts, like “Free shipping on orders $99 and over”. It’s also a great way to increase your average order size.

Flat amount off

Another standard is a flat dollar amount off an order total, like “$10 off your next order”. This tends to convert best if your store has an average order total of less than $100.

Percentage offThe “10% off your next order” type of coupon generally does better for stores with an average order total above $100. Consumers don’t perceive as much of a value for a percentage off lower order totals.

Minimum purchase If you’re scared of discounting the way I’m scared of clowns, tying a minimum purchase amount to your offer is a good way to ease into the wonderful world of coupons. Something like “Get $5 off your next order of $30 or more” acts as a security blanket, guaranteeing you a certain profit level. If tested and tweaked a little, the minimum purchase amount can also entice customers to add more to their carts. But it’s important not to go overboard with that strategy. Try starting with your average order total as the minimum amount and combine it with a discount you can live with, then go from there.

Buy X, get YAlso known as “The Old Tit for Tat” (not really), this is another good way to dip a toe into couponing, because you’re assuring yourself of a certain order total before the discount. Whether it’s “Buy 2, get 1 free” or “Buy 4, get 10% off”, the pricing of the items involved is key. It’s a good idea to test it on a certain item or category, unless you happen to sell a bunch of different styles of the same basic item.

Loyalty couponsOnce you’ve been in business a while, hopefully you’ll have a list of people who know you, your products, and your level of service: your previous customers. Because a lot of the hard work is already done for you (they know who you are and what you do), sometimes all they need is a little coaxing to become repeat customers.

Try emailing anyone who has purchased from you in the past with a special offer. Any of the coupon types above would work; just make sure you spell out that it’s because they bought from you in the past, like “Exclusive offer: Returning customers get 20% off”. Regularly sending deals to those who have supported you in the past is also an easy way to build loyalty.Another way of doing this is the referral coupon: offer your customers one coupon code, and in the same email give them another code that they can pass on to a friend. If they like you and your products, hopefully you’ll get two initial sales and another regular customer out of the deal.

Daily couponsFor offering a coupon good for one day only is another way to limit your exposure. It also creates a greater sense of urgency and lends itself well to promoting through social media (more on that in a bit). Some sites offer a different deal each day. While it can be a bit of a hassle to manually update promotions, apps like Daily Deal Bar can help. Or you can try doing weekly instead of daily deals.

Holiday-based deals

Certain holidays like Labor Day and Memorial Day are associated with sales, while others like Christmas see a ton more online shopping traffic and a promotion can help you stand out. These are the times shoppers expect and are seeking out deals, so try any or all of the above ideas to see what works best during certain holidays. You can also get a little fun and/or cheeseball with your promotions during these times, like offering 17.76% off for Independence Day or giving a discount on Christmas presents for fathers using the coupon code feliznaviDAD. I just made that one up — feel free to use it!

Pre-launch couponsIf you’re launching a new online store, promote it to a select list of people before you officially open, and offer them a coupon to become one of your first customers. This can help build loyalty early on, plus acts as a good trial run for your store.

Evangelist couponsFind the people in your space that have large social media followings or are active on other online platforms and give them special coupons with significant discounts. The idea is to get them to try your product. If they like it, hopefully they’ll tell their followers all about you and the amazing stuff you sell. You probably already know of a few people with influence in your market, but you can also use tools like Klout or Traackr to find key online influencers.

EmailTried and true, email should be your go-to method for disseminating coupons. Keep them short and sweet, putting the focus on the offer and the coupon code. The subject line is incredibly important, as that’s the main driver of open rates. You want to communicate that there’s a fabulous offer inside, but words like “free” and “% off” can either trigger spam filters or simply decrease opens. MailChimp has some solid advice on subject lines.

PromotionSure you can hire a skywriter or pay a dude to tattoo your offer and logo on his bald head, but there are three basic, easy ways to get the word out about a deal you’re offering.

Social MediaAs long as you’re not limiting a coupon to a select group, social media is another way to raise awareness of an offer and drive some traffic. And it’s free! Unlike email subject lines, copy for a Tweet or Facebook post should say exactly what the deal is, and if possible any exclusions or other relevant details.One method to try is to offer an exclusive deal to your followers and fans, like “Exclusively for our Facebook fans: 20% off any order this week” (just make sure it’s actually exclusive; i.e., don’t email or put the code on your site). It’s another way of building loyalty and repeat business, plus people like the idea of exclusivity. That’s why yacht clubs are so popular (I hear).

In-StoreIf you want to open up the discount to anyone that wanders by your online store or remind shoppers about a regular promotion, featuring it on your site is the way to go. If you have a homepage carousel, that makes a perfect place for a large, eye-catching promo graphic. Otherwise you can try banner ads in various places around your site or even a chic, modern promo strip in the header.No matter how you display it, the graphic should clearly state the deal and provide the promo code and instructions: “Save 25% on any order! Enter promo code MEGASAVE at checkout.” If you have a landing page or category associated with the deal, the graphic should link to it and be clearly clickable (including a button or underlined link text helps). And of course the graphic should be easily seen by anyone who looks on the page.Here are a couple of examples I like:

Other things to keep in mind•Keep the offer simple: the more complex the offer, the harder it is to communicate and understand. Stick to the basics outlined above, especially if you’re just starting out.•Keep the coupon code simple: You want something that’s easy to read, remember and type. Use actual words/phrases, keep it under 10 characters (preferably 6), and try to avoid using lookalike characters if you mix in numbers (the dreaded “Is that a 0 or an O?” conundrum). If at all possible, don’t make codes case sensitive.•Including is easier than excluding: That sounds like a Sesame Street lesson, but what I really mean is that it’s easier to offer a sitewide discount or deal than it is to limit it to one category or item. Plus the more you limit the deal, the more you limit your potential pool of takers. It can make sense to restrict discounts by item, etc. but just give it some thought first.

•Use a landing page: If you do decide to limit to a category or set of items, it’s a much better experience to land shoppers on a page that shows all the eligible products. Not forcing people to hunt around for them will improve your conversion.•Add an expiration date: Expiring coupons within a reasonable amount of time not only makes it easier to track the results, but creates a sense of urgency for shoppers. Make sure you communicate the expiration clearly.